Council members again accuse Jones of keeping them in the dark, but mayor makes no apologies

When Mobile City Council members chafed at a promise Mayor Sam Jones made to give the school system money ? millions of dollars ? several said they were upset that they didn't have any say in it before the promise was made.

It wasn't the first time council members have accused Jones of keeping them in the dark. City Councilwoman Connie Hudson said it's a recurring theme.

"From the beginning of this administration, I've said I would like to see better communication in advance of things being presented to the public," Hudson said. "A deal is struck, and those of us who are required to vote on it are expected to just follow suit with the promises that were made and not make our own independent decisions."

Jones said he didn't know whether council members are feeling left out or not.

He made no apologies for offering to give the school system money in the midst of an annexation campaign without conferring with council members first.

"There's a difference between what I have to do and what the council has to do," Jones said.

"I have to meet with the residents and determine how I can pass an annexation referendum," the mayor said.

On Tuesday, the council is scheduled to vote on a measure that would give the school system tax revenue that could equal as much as $2 million a year.

But it remains to be seen whether the funds will be a gift, as Jones promised, or a loan, as several council members said they would prefer.

The issue dates back to last year, when the city held annexation votes in four areas, including a retail-heavy section of Theodore.

The Mobile County school system receives a half-cent sales tax from all areas outside the cities of Mobile and Prichard, but no sales tax from inside those two cities. So any annexation would take sales tax revenue away from the schools.

Jones promised in August that the city would give the school system whatever money it would have received from the half-cent levy for a few years.

But earlier this month, when the item came up for council approval, several members said they wanted the school board to repay that money eventually.

Several council members criticized the mayor for making the promise without consulting them.

Council President Reggie Copeland likened it to last year's fight over funding for the Gulf Coast Classic.

Copeland said he only found out that the mayor was going to ask for an increase in funding for the game from $40,000 to $450,000 a few days before the request was given to the council.

"There needs to be some dialogue before he makes a commitment," Copeland said.

Hudson said the same thing happens every year before the mayor gives the council his proposed budget. The council has to approve all spending, but she said she's never given a chance to give input until the budget is already put together.

That puts the council in the position of looking like the bad guy, she said.

"When promises are made, if we amend them or make changes, it appears that the city's going back on its word," she said.

Jones said he made the commitment to repay the school system because he believed annexation would not pass without it.

If council members had come to more annexation meetings, they would have heard the same thing from residents and would have been able to help craft a solution to that problem, Jones said.

"Unfortunately they don't work for me," Jones said. "I can't make them come."

Jones also said that after he made the commitment in August, he didn't hear a peep from council members until a few weeks ago.

"If there's something you're not clear on, or you disagreed with, why not engage us?" he said. "No one came and said, 'I don't like what you're doing.' I got no questions, nothing, from the council members."